My Iconic Birthday
by Ferret's Earmuffs
Summary: AU. It's the end of the world in Jump City, and high school student Raven Roth is going to need some super help if she wants to stop her father.
1. Prologue

Something I've been working on as I go through my writer's craft class. You may see a visible improvement in writing style as the chapters progress.

**Disclaimer:**

I wish I owned the Titans.

But the Titans belong to me just as much as the entire earth can belong to one individual.

* * *

**My Iconic Birthday**

**Prologue**

It's amazing how despite everything you are: a horror, a tormented teenager, in icon of evil to an ancient race of people… you still have to deal with the little things in life. Raven and her mother came to Jump City a year ago to get away from it all, because the young girl felt imprisoned and close to snapping, because Jump City was a small unnoticed place where nothing ever happened. The monks said yes, almost seeming happy to be rid of her, or to give her a freedom she had never before had, and her mother tagged along because she had nothing else. Raven was her tie to this world and the one they had come from. Raven kept her mother sane, and Raven's mother kept Raven in control. They were a team of the most unusual sort; one that Earth had probably never seen before. But despite all this, she still had to do the little things like take out the garbage.

At least it was nice out. The sky was mostly clear and the large deciduous trees flanking their street seemed home to many families of birds that fall. Raven would've smiled and taken it all in if she could've, but she had other things to worry about. Her birthday was coming up. Though most people would think that's a time for celebration, Raven's birthday was never happy and she and her mother usually spent it in awkward silence, meditating and hoping to forget just what it meant. This year was even worse.

She was turning sixteen.

As she walked down the cracked driveway with her household garbage floating suspiciously behind her, she contemplated what exactly that meant for her family and the world in general. Nothing good of course.

"Hey, that's pretty cool."

Something green slipped out of a nearby tree and grew into a teenage boy. Raven quickly let the garbage fall behind her and took a step away from him, not sure what his intentions were or just what he made of her. She also wondered why she hadn't notice him before.

Taking in her defensive stance he threw his hands up, looking shocked. "Woh, hey! I'm not gonna hurt you. I just thought what you were doing… with the garbage. It was you, right?"

At least he was being sincere. Raven felt confident enough in his words to relax a bit and took that time to examine him in better detail. Aside from being completely green and sporting a pair of, she had to admit cute, pointy elf ears, he seemed like any average teenager. He was about the same height as her and his hair was messed up in that intentional bed head guys seemed to think was attractive. She didn't much care for it, though her experience with men was a tad minute. On the other hand, she did recognize the boy from school.

"Look, you can't tell anyone," she stated, glancing back at the window to make sure Arella hadn't seen anything. "If my mother finds out-"

"Dude, chill. I'm different too! See?"

As the words left his mouth she watched his body shrink and mutate into another form. Coarse fur sprouted over his body while his nose elongated, turning black on the end and dripping a disgusting clear wetness. His fingers shrank into small paws, nails growing black and claw-like. A fuzzy tail poked out his backend and Raven nearly gagged. He'd turned himself into an adorable little puppy.

As amazing as it was, she wasn't nearly as impressed as he seemed to be hoping. He padded around her legs and sniffed her ankles in what she figured was an attempt to tickle her. She would have kicked him, but she remembered a saying she'd heard a while ago about kicking puppies. Apparently it wasn't a very nice thing to do.

He walked away from her and shifted back to normal, or at least as normal as _he_ was going to get.

"You, know," he stated, looking thoughtful. "You smell familiar. You're in my science class right? Uh, Rae… Rachel…"

"Raven."

"Ya! I don't know if you've noticed me at all." He put out his hand for her to shake. "Garfield Logan."

Raven looked at his hand for a moment. Human contact wasn't really her thing. "How could I not notice you? You're the most annoying green person in the school."

He huffed. "I prefer to think of myself as the _only_ green person in the school." He then paused for a moment. "Wait, was that an insult?"

"You're apparently none to bright either," she muttered, reaching down to pick up the garbage bag with her hands.

She started hauling the surprisingly heavy trash towards the curb, but the irritating beast was following her. "You know, you won't make many friends with that attitude."

"I'm not sure if you've noticed," she grunted. "But I'm not really a making friends kind of person."

"You should try it. It's not as bad as it sounds."

"I think I'll pass."

"Whatever. It's your loss." He turned to leave, waving his hand in farewell. "See you at school."

Raven dumped her garbage on the curb and watched Garfield Logan walk down the sidewalk. _He's anxious,_ she noticed. _Probably wants to turn around and see if I'm watching him leave._ She stared at his retreating form, taking in the way his feet skidded behind him and dragged along the ground. It was hypnotizing. Entrancing, and- she realized with a start that she was doing just what he wanted her to do, and looked away blushing. "Can't blame myself I suppose," she mumbled. It wasn't like people from school approached her every day with the intention of becoming her friend. Maybe it was time to start…

No. Not now, not ever. The world was going to come to an end, and when that time came she didn't want to be blamed for showing emotion.

Not that there would be anyone left to place the blame.

She sighed. Maybe it was time to make some friends. _Might as well enjoy my last year on Earth._


	2. Chapter 1

I do apologize, I've introduced an OC into this chapter as character creation practice. I'd appreciate constructive criticism if you have any, as it may help improve the story as I write the chapters.

**Still a Disclaimer:  
**I wish I owned the Titans.  
But the Titans belong to me just as much as the entire earth can belong to one individual.

* * *

**My Iconic Birthday**

**Chapter 1**

At 9:05 in the morning, after the announcements were made, the anthem was played, and the students had all settled into their seats for some early morning learning, Raven Roth was called down to the office. She had no mind as to why, though she was certain it wasn't anything bad. Even so, mindless students let out an "ooooooooooo" of mocking, and laughter erupted around her as she rose from her desk and left the room, rolling her eyes.

Teenagers.

Her school's thin halls were still busy with straggling students. Raven passed by some teachers, clearing their throats and ushering slackers into class. She slipped quietly into the office, wondering just what they wanted with her when she noticed two girls about her age standing off to the side.

The first girl seemed to radiate an essence of unicorns bathing in rainbow dust. Long red hair cascaded around her golden skinned face, accenting a pair of excided green eyes that were pulled into a grin as she chatted animatedly at the girl standing next to her.

The other listened in polite interest. She was shorter than the first girl, whom Raven noticed was actually quite tall for her gender, and was host to an elegant frame of yellow hair. Her eyes snapped to Raven's, a golden brown that were enhanced by something. Contacts maybe? They seemed eerily familiar.

She shivered in discomfort and looked away, hoping one of the secretaries had seen her come in.

"Ah, Raven!" She turned abruptly as the principle walked into the room, motioning to the two girls. "I'd like to introduce you to Miss Koriand'r and Stella Siefs." He paused. "Did I say that right?"

The redhead nodded enthusiastically.

"Well then, this is Raven Roth. She'll be mentoring you for your first week of school."

Raven, who had been busy not paying attention, gave a sudden start. She looked at Stella, her face, stance, name… but no. Her hair was the wrong colour. "Mentor, sir? Are you sure I'm the right person for that kind of… responsibility?"

The principle smiled. "Yes, Raven. You've been here a year now, you know the school, and your grades aren't in any way threatened by the extra time it will take. I think you'll be perfect."

She looked back at the girls. Koriand'r was waving with a bubbly smile and Stella was staring at her. "Um… sure."

"Splendid!" He ushered the three of them out of the office, and disappeared into the depths of principleland. Raven didn't know where exactly he went, and found she really didn't care.

"So… Kori-and'r." She tested the name, not quite sure if it flowed with the English language all that well. It sounded almost like a spice she'd seen at the store. It occurred to her the girl hadn't been introduced with a last name either.

"Humans have trouble remembering my true name." Humans? "It would be most acceptable to be called by the translation into your language. You may refer to me as Starfire."

Odd girl. Not human. She'd have to make a note of that somewhere. "So, uh, Star-fire." Well, it worked a little better. "What class do you have first?"

"Oh, I was discussing this with my new friend Stella! Is it not most glorious? She has agreed to become my friend!" Starfire grabbed Stella around the neck in what appeared to be a bone crushing hug. Instead of flinching, the girl rubbed the back of her neck with a free hand and laughed a bit.

"Uh, ya. We're having lunch together."

Raven studied them both critically. "Glorious. Now what class do you have?"

The young woman looked appalled. "Did I not say? I have the class of sciences first, though I wish to visit the room of baths to fix my hair. Have I said that correctly?"

Stella nodded while Raven took a moment to breathe deeply. Starfire expressed too much emotion, most of which Raven was picking up with her empathic abilities. As the happiness and excitement rushed at Raven in a tidal wave of deadly emotion, she could feel it for sure now. Starfire was not human in the slightest.

She took another deep breath and held out her hand. "Give me your schedule. I'll take a look while you're in the bathroom." Starfire placed the schedule in her mentor's hand. "Bathroom's over there."

"Does Stella desire to accompany me?"

Stella shrugged. "Nah. I'm good."

Starfire bit her lip but said nothing as she walked away. It was clear to Raven that the teenager loved attention and company, but didn't want to offend anyone. Probably easily manipulated on account of those facts, possibly even a little stupid. Still, only time could tell that. Starfire oozed of new culture, a sign that she hadn't been in Jump City for a very long time.

"So, when did you dye your hair black?"

Ah, so it was her.

"Probably about the same time you died your hair blond."

"Touché."

They stared at each other in silence, carefully taking in the other to make sure all their body parts were still in place. Raven didn't know what to say. She wasn't exactly the talkative type, but Stella was clearly waiting for her to start asking questions. Typical of her. Though a part of Raven realised that maybe Stella didn't want to discus anything. She seemed quite uncomfortable in the empty hall next to the bathroom. Maybe she wanted to forget the past. Was she running away? What about parents? She must have parents around somewhere.

Finally Stella looked away. "You should probably actually look at that schedule."

Ah, right. The schedule. Raven looked down and cursed. Bubbly redheaded unicorn girl had science with _her_. Of all the science classes of all the grades, Raven had to share with the emotionally explosive alien who thrived off of human attention. Worse yet, Garfield would see her walk into the class with another student and most likely take offence. Hadn't she rejected his offer of friendship not twenty-four hours ago?

"What's wrong?"

Stella was looking over her shoulder now, studying Starfire's schedule.

"Nothing. What classes do you have?"

Stella looked at her own paper, just realising for the first time that she would actually have to be going to class today. "Uh… Visual Arts and English."

The two didn't have to wait much longer for Starfire to get out of the bathroom. Raven took up the time giving Stella instructions to get to the Visual Arts room. They were lucky enough to be in the same English class, so they could meet up there before lunch. Yes, Raven had decided to have lunch with them. It was part of her job as a mentor, she reasoned. Not an act of friendship.

When Starfire came out of the bathroom, they split up and went to their separate classes.

x-x-x

Garfield Logan was mad. Mad because _she_, of all people, had walked into the classroom with a… _with a friend_. Hadn't she rejected his offer of friendship not twenty-four hours ago? Oh, she was in for a severe verbal lashing.

As he approached the far table in the cafeteria his anger began to boil deep in the pit of his stomach. She wasn't just with a friend. She was with _two_ friends.

He marched up to the table and slammed his hands against it, rattling the trays of food and startling the lunch goers. Garfield was pleased to note that Raven looked extremely guilty.

"Are you disgusted with the way I look or something? Or maybe you just have a problem with men!"

Raven looked completely startled, while the young blond girl sitting with her snickered behind the single apple she was eating. He caught something along the lines of, "More like boy…" but chose to ignore her for the time being.

"Look, I'm not-"

"I don't care about your excuses!" he shouted. Her face had returned to the blankness with which he had come to associate her. Why was she so scared of showing emotion?

"You are the Garfield Logan from Science class, correct?"

The other girl sitting with Raven smiled brightly at him and motioned to the seat next to the blond. "It would be most glorious if you were to join us. Friend Raven," _Friend?_ Oh, she was in for it now. "Is doing the mentoring. She is very kind to show us the school."

Mentoring? Oh, god. He felt like an idiot now. Raven hadn't chosen to sit and spend time with these girls. She was being forced to!

He looked around the table and noticed for the first time how strangely the girls were eating. Raven had in front of her a thermos of tea and nothing else. What was she, anorexic? Or maybe she just didn't like lunch. The blond had a reused bottle of water and the one apple she was hiding behind. He took note that she wasn't talking and was making every effort not to look at Raven. Last of all was the strangest. The oddly happy girl was eating… pepperoni pizza from the cafeteria with every sauce and condiment from the table piled on top. Well except mustard. She was drinking that.

"I, uh…" He was starting to rethink his reasons for coming here. His eyes darted to Raven and her thermos of tea. Steam rose from the lid she grasped in her hands, moistening the tip of her nose into an endearing pinkish tone. She was observing him with hard violet eyes, her grey lips pursed in deep thought.

"Sure," he finished lamely. Luckily he had brought his lunch.

Raven's body tensed as he scooted into a seat next to her. It was the only one available, he reasoned.

"I was presently telling Stella and Raven how the class of sciences today was very much like a children's story my K'norfka used to read to me." She smiled pleasantly, allowing her gaze to drift out the window. Something wasn't right. He had to ask.

"Children's stories? You did grade ten science when you were three?"

"Oh no. Not until the age of six did I learn the details of your sciences."

The blond girl, Stella, shook her head. "She's thinking of switching to a more advanced class, but I don't think she'll find anything advanced enough at this school."

Raven snorted softly into her tea. Garfield ignored her.

"At least _she_ can do science. I can't figure any of it out."

Stella agreed. Apparently the English classes where she was from were a lot easier, shorter, and smaller than they were at this school. "We should form a study group," she concluded.

Garfield watched Raven as the words left the blonde's mouth. Her gaze shifted from her tea to the girl across the table from her. Her eyebrow's furrowed, as if some inner struggle were at hand, and then softened, though her hard gaze bore into Stella's skull like a power drill. Stella cast an irritated glare at the girl, and the conflict was over just like that.

"Sounds good to me," said Beast Boy. "I can always use some extra help."

So the decision was made, and Raven was forced, Garfield realised, into interacting with actual people.

He smiled triumphantly.


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:**  
I wish I owned the Titans.  
But the Titans belong to me just as much as the entire earth can belong to one individual.

* * *

**My Iconic Birthday**

**Chapter 2**

Three days until Raven's birthday.

She was sitting in the library with Stella. It was a solace, where people around whispered in hushed voices around old stained books that smelled of spilled coke and mould. The librarian surveyed the scene with piercing black eyes, ready to discourage slackers and kick out the noisy in a finger's snap. Raven could hear the gentle shuffle of feet hiding behind the towering shelves, and feel the dampened emotions of every being in the room. It was a place for quiet, and that's all she needed.

The two girls were having a private study session. It had come into general knowledge that not all four individuals would always be available at the same time, so on occasion they split into smaller groups to gather whenever available. It was early morning before class, and they had an English test second period. Raven took a moment to watch the girl.

Once upon a time, they had been friends. Stella had lived in Azarath when she was younger, adopted by a childless couple as a baby.

Raven remembered their first meeting.

"_Give that back!"_

_Two older boys stalked in a circle around a four-year-old brunette. One of them held above his head a doll, red-haired and button-eyed, simple blue dress stopping at her plush, peach coloured knees. The boy cackled._

_Raven, crouched inside a bush, watched the girl's face contort as she let forth an animalistic snarl._

"_Oh, she's got a temper," the other boy said. "Can't be having that."_

_He leapt forward and an outstretched hand made contact with the girl's chest. She fell backward into the dirt, her hands reaching forward as if to grab the air before she could be injured. She shrieked on the ground and her eyes scrunched up angrily. "You're so mean!"_

_The boy with the doll laughed as the other one aimed a kick at her ribs._

_Young Raven had had enough. She didn't want to be caught sneaking around town, and the boys were sure to recognise her garb as that of the demon child, but she couldn't just sit back and watch this horrid behaviour._

_She stepped out from inside the leafy bush. "Stop!"_

Stella's golden-brown eyes traveled over Raven's notes, lingering on longer words and flying past topics properly discussed in class. Her golden hair betrayed darker roots, as a soft curl fell over one eye. She brushed it aside with a scarred finger.

_The boys stopped. Each one took a moment to observe the intruder, then, as if they had only been one person__, simultaneously paled and backed away from the girl. The one boy dropped the doll and they both took off at a stumbling run along the dusty park path._

_When they grew up, they wouldn't fear her, but for now… she sighed._

_Raven knelt down next to the girl, who stared at her with wide eyes, her hands trembling. "You're… you're…"_

_Her hands were bleeding, though Raven took note of a thick rock that had lodged itself deep within her pointer. She grasped the rock between stubby grey fingers. "This is gonna hurt."_

_The girl didn't move._

The girls hadn't had any time to talk these past two weeks. They hadn't been alone since that first day, and Raven was hesitant to bring up her past in front of the others. She wanted to ask so many questions, but questions really weren't her thing.

_She didn't flinch as the rock was pulled delicately out of the wound. She didn't even seem to notice as a steady flow of blood seeped from her finger. It wasn't until Raven wrapped her small hand around it did she react. Her hand jerked as she tried to pull it back, and her gaze snapped to the blood soaked ground._

"_Oh," she said._

"_I'll fix it."_

_Raven's hand glowed blue and the girl watched in awe._

Maybe questions weren't her thing, but at the moment her mind needed answers. Stella had disappeared when she was eight, and no one knew where she had gone. She'd have to ask.

"Stella?"

Stella looked up from the book.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" Raven asked.

_She lifted her hand to inspect the mostly healed skin__. Eyes softened as she looked towards Raven with a newfound respect. "You're Raven," she said._

_Raven nodded._

"_I'm Stella."_

"Not really," Stella answered. Her eyes narrowed slightly and she tried to go back to reading Raven's notes.

"Where do you live?"

"Around," she said, not looking up.

"Parents?"

"If you insist."

This wasn't getting anywhere.

"Stella, we have to have this talk sooner or later."

"I think I prefer later."

She snapped Raven's binder shut and placed it in front of the dark-haired girl. She clenched a fist, opened her mouth, and closed it again. "I need some fresh air," she finally said, and stood up.

Raven had one last shot at getting answers out of her. Stella knew about Raven's past.

"My birthday's in three days."

Stella stopped with her school bag on one shoulder. Her breathing quickened, and she glanced at Raven. Her eyes were wide, but they darted away from Raven's gaze as if burned by fire. She clenched her jaw and stared at the floor. "I'll get you a card," she said, and walked away.

Raven sighed and covered her face with pale hands. Why did Stella always have to be so difficult?

x-x-x

Raven woke up that morning feeling exhausted. It was Saturday, and she'd been invited to the movies later on with her study partners. It had been Garfield's idea of bonding, but Raven wasn't sure if she'd go.

Stella hadn't spoken a word to her the past three days, and Raven was surprised to find that she was actually upset about it. The blonde had gone so far as to bail on the English test for a "doctor's appointment" and refused to even look at Raven the next day.

Raven sighed and brushed a shaky hand through her short, black hair. The house was silent, the clock on her bedside table reading 5:30 am. She groaned as a short wave of nausea rolled through her stomach and hunched over into her soft, lavender-scented bed sheets. Should she even bother to get up today? Would it really make a difference in the end?

The room was silent, except for the electrical hum of her alarm clock. Her blue curtains were pulled shut, keeping any light from marring the shelves of ancient tomes on her walls. There was a dusty smell to the old books that Raven treasured in the morning. It was hers, as was the entirety of the room, and Raven took comfort in that.

But she couldn't just lie there breathing through her bed sheets. She groaned again and rolled onto her back, closing her eyes. Meditate. An unconventional meditation at best, but she really didn't feel like sitting up.

She slipped into her own mind, pulling a tight leash on every emotion she had and burying her anger so far underground she'd need a backhoe to find it. By the time she came back to the real world, the clock read 7:00 am, and the salty scent of bacon wafted through her bedroom door.

After getting dressed Raven trudged down the stairs to find her mother in front of the stove, cooking breakfast. A greasy pan sizzled with bacon, while another held a portion of scrambled eggs. There was a steaming cup of tea on the table, next to a bowl of strawberries, cantaloupe, and honeydew. At her place of the table she found a plate with buttered toast and orange juice.

"What's with the feast?"

Arella turned abruptly, spatula in hand. She gave Raven a sad smile before turning back to the stove and picking up the pan full of eggs. "A mother's not allowed to make her daughter breakfast on her birthday?"

More like a last meal.

Raven eyed the meal with uncertainty. She felt ill, which was completely foreign to her young, healthy body, and the prospect frightened her. She wasn't hungry in the slightest, but she couldn't simply say 'No.'

Making up her mind, she sat down in her chair and watched her mother cook.

Arella prepared the breakfast in elegant, fluid movements, brushing back locks of her unusual lilac-coloured hair to avoid singeing the tips on the hot stove. She hummed stiffly as she slid crispy bacon onto a plate and placed it in the centre of the table. The pan of eggs she removed directly from the stove, arranging them in front of her daughter with a smile. She kissed Raven's hairline.

"Enjoy."

Breakfast was silent. It wasn't an awkward silence, but neither was it a comfortable one. The weight of the world hung in front of the two women, and no matter how they turned, it was always staring them in the face.

Raven tried to ignore the pain in her stomach, but she found it increasingly difficult as her mother was casting expecting glances her way. She hid it, and ate a healthy portion of everything with mild disdain. Arella ate as well, and between the two of them, they managed to eat most of what was one the table.

Raven looked at her plate, where a piece of bacon, two strawberries, and a bite of toast stared at her with a malformed smile. Her stomach protested the food strongly in a sudden, painful contraction, and she clenched her jaw against the nausea. She placed her napkin on the table with a shaking hand. The once solid, square table warped in sickening waves, rolling back and forth so that she had to grip the side of her chair to keep steady. There was a harsh hum in her ears. An urgent itch under her skin. She swallowed.

"Raven, what's wrong?"

Her mother's voice was muffled. What was happening to her? A headache stabbed into her temples and she snapped her eyes shut. _Oh god, make it stop!_ She groaned and crumpled forward into her arms.

"Raven!"

A sharp pain flashed across her brow and she heard the roaring flames of hell erupt from around her. The house was in ashes, surrounded by glowing orange and red lights. A sulphuric smell broke through her senses, battering against her pounding head. In the sky, four glowing eyes observed her with a piercing gaze. Dead trees crumpled around the solid stone form of her mother, of Garfield, Starfire, and Stella, frozen in a silent scream. She tried to close her eyes, only to find them already closed, and opened them instead.

Her mother was crouched in front of her, concern in her eyes. The dim lights in the kitchen hummed to themselves, and an overpowering scent of bacon filled the room.

Raven leaned over the side of her chair and vomited.

x-x-x

There was much to be said about being sick, Raven discovered. She hadn't much enjoyed the hours spent gripping the rim of the toilet bowl, retching and shivering. The burning glyphs on her limbs, face, and torso had left her warm, sweaty, and in need of a new set of non-singed clothes. Her tongue tasted of bile for most of the day, and exhaustion crept under her skin like an ever crafty bank robber.

Her dreams were plagued with images of death and destruction. She often woke up screaming, only to find herself wrapped in the arms of her mother, who hushed her, kissed her forehead, and hummed childhood tunes the monks had taught her. In quieter moments she was aware of a cool presence on her forehead, soothing the burn in her chakra.

At one point she sat up in bed, tracing the heated glyphs etched into her flesh. Her mother had stepped into the room at that point, watching her daughter from the doorframe.

"Raven," she whispered.

Raven elevated her eyes to look at her mother. They stared at each other in a frozen second, before a tear escaped Raven's eye and Arella was forced to balance on the edge of her bed in a precarious hug.

By five o'clock in the afternoon, Raven was dozing peacefully in her bed, and her mother had wandered into the kitchen to make tea.

Raven dreamed.

"_They weren't very nice to you."_

_Stella was clutching her doll in bloodstained fists, eyes downcast. She was sitting on a small boulder, oversized boots dragging through the dusty earth. "They never are," she said._

"_Didn't it hurt?" Raven asked._

"_No."_

_Raven moved closer to the girl and removed her cloak. She went to drape it around Stella's shoulders, but the smaller girl flinched away. "It's cold," Raven said._

"_I don't feel it."_

_She put the cloak back on and watched her new acquaintance. She wasn't sure how to go about making new friends. The monks never let her outside, and she was only here because she'd slipped away during one of their morning walks._

"_Why are they mean to you?" _

"_Because they don't think it's wrong… to hurt someone who can't feel pain."_

_She watched Stella, who was so immersed in self-pity she was half expecting her to implode in a torrent of tears. Stella drew her lips into her mouth and sniffed the air, swallowed, but did not cry._

"_I'm different too," Raven said._

_Stella looked up, gazing for the first time into Raven's eyes. Her eyebrows drew together in a frown, and she un-pursed her lips. "Ya," she said._

_Raven dove through her own confused thoughts, trying to pry something out of them that would drive Stella to like her. Something they might do together._

"_Do you like to read?"_

_Stella, looked away, drew her legs up, and rocked back and forth on the boulder. "Don't know how."_

"_I can teach you."_

"_Do you have a book?"_

"_I can bring one tomorrow."_

_Stella stopped rocking and looked at Raven again. She seemed to be thinking._

_A soft, steady patting of the earth sounded to Raven's left. Someone was coming down the path. Someone frightened, and angry._

"_I have to go," Raven said._

_Stella slipped off the rock and shuffled forward until she was standing in front of Raven. She looked at Raven's face, then her torso, and finally her legs, as if assessing some decision. She shrugged her shoulders and looked away, holding her doll in front of Raven. "You saved her," she said. "She wants to play with you now."_

_And when Raven's caretaker thundered around the corner, cursing and berating her delinquent behaviour, Stella smiled timidly and waved. "See you later Raven."_

"_Raven."_

"Raven."

Raven opened her eyes groggily, sifting through her foggy mind to figure out where exactly she was. Arella was leaning over her, hand resting maternally on her arm. "Raven, there's someone at the door for you."

"Today?" She sat up slowly, glancing at the clock. It was 5:30 in the afternoon.

"It's Stella."


	4. Chapter 3

A big thank you to my reviewers! Your support makes writing this story so much more enjoyable.

**Disclaimer:**  
I wish I owned the Titans.  
But the Titans belong to me just as much as the entire earth can belong to one individual.

* * *

**My Iconic Birthday**

**Chapter 3**

They were standing on the fringe of Jump City. A dusty wind floated through Stella's hair and the afternoon sun baked their skin. Raven drew up the hood of her sweatshirt to protect herself from the light, but the stifling heat still seeped into her fevered body.

Both girls were jittery. Raven, because she felt ill and confused, and Stella because she was unsure as the why the world hadn't ended yet.

Stella led Raven up to a beaten down motel. The crusty tiled walls were covered in grime. Dirty old cars and trucks were parked in the small parking lot. The roof was poorly patched. Raven could smell the dank interior from the paved lot and hear the muffled moans of lovemaking from somewhere nearby. She grit her teeth and followed Stella to one of the doors, the ecstasy from two doors down driving into her skull.

Stella inserted a key into the keyhole of the damp, off-white door. It swung open, revealing a cluttered interior.

"I wanted to show you where I live."

Raven stepped into the dark room. A light flickered on and Raven turned to see her friend standing by the wall, hand hovering over the light switch. She observed a painting taped next to Stella's head: a dove sitting on a willow branch. Her eyes drifted to the rest of the room. The double bed was unmade, an intricate orange quilt tossed to the floor closest the door. The TV was unplugged, replaced by a microwave that seemed to have been scavenged from a dumpster. In front of it sat a mug of water with a thermometer dipped inside. She heard Stella's soft breathing and smelt the damp air from the bathroom. Her hair stood on end as a deep moan sounded from another room, piercing into her head.

"You don't have a home?"

Stella scrunched up her shoulders and stared off at the wall. "It's as close to a home as I can afford."

The rhythmic creaking grew louder.

"How did you end up here?" Raven asked. She drew her hands to her face and rubbed it tiredly. The headache gnawed deeper into her skull.

"I, uh…" Stella avoided looking at Raven. "I remember wanting to see my birth parents, and stealing one of your spell books the monks were teaching you to read…"

Oh god, she didn't.

"…and pronouncing the words wrong. I ended up here."

Raven assumed that by 'here' she meant Earth as a whole. Not Jump City. She heard another moan and clenched her teeth.

"Where are your parents?" she mumbled.

"Dead."

The sounds intensified and Raven rubbed her temples, trying to ignore it. Each creak, moan, or otherwise sign of lovemaking drove the headache one inch closer to forcing Raven into insanity.

"And you're not in a foster home because…"

Stella sighed, leaned against the wall and bit her lip. "I've already gone through three mothers. I couldn't stand the prospect of another one."

Creak.

"I hardly consider that as an excuse."

Moan.

"Well excuse me for not being emo and perfectly intelligent."

Groan.

"I am _not_ emo. That implies emotion of some form."

"Don't deny you have emotions just because you don't show them."

Creak, groan. Thump. Thump.

"My emotions don't excuse your stupidity."

Thump.

"Screw my stupidity! It's over now." Stella was glaring now.

Raven clenched her eyes.

"You could have been normal!"

Raven's eyes snapped open at that, realizing what she had just said. Stella froze for a moment, hands clenched on her thighs in tight balls. A surge of anger rushed at Raven and she involuntarily stepped back. Stella's face contorted as she drew her lips into a sneer. Her eyes flickered, reflecting the light from her ceiling fan.

"You call this normal?" she said. She sidestepped a pile of laundry and drew a long knife from on top of a long, low dresser. It glinted as she raised it into the air next to her face.

"Stella-" Raven stepped forward, an attempt to stop whatever was about to happen.

Stella screamed, backing closer to the wall. "This is not normal," she hissed. Raven made to grab the knife but Stella pulled it away. "Get away!"

In one swift motion she placed the palm of her left hand onto the dresser and drove the knife into its core. Raven flinched as the squelching and cracking bone broke through her flesh. She closed her eyes again, feeling a new wave a nausea wash through her.

"Stella, calm down."

Stella was still gripping the knife with a steel fist. Her hand was trembling as she uttered in a low voice, "That should have hurt me." She took a shuddering breath. "But it didn't because…" She let go of the knife, shuddering. "I'm not normal," she whispered, and dropped to her knees.

Raven vaulted forward, unpinning the knife before the force of Stella's fall could tear her hand in two. She grabbed the bleeding hand and tried to heal it, but she couldn't concentrate due to the moaning and thumping from the other room.

"I can fix it," she said.

Stella looked up then and Raven imagined the young girl she'd seen in the park, clutching her doll with bloodstained fists.

"Let's just get out of here."

Stella swallowed, looking at the bloody knife on the floor.

"There's always that movie."

x-x-x

It was eleven o'clock at night. Garfield strolled down Bank Street with a happy smile. All three of his study group partners had shown up for the movie, and he'd enjoyed it thoroughly.

"Wasn't that great?" Starfire and Stella agreed with him. "Raven? You can't tell me that wasn't awesome."

Raven looked paler than usual in the moonlight. Her eyes peered out at him from behind a navy blue sweatshirt hood, arms drawn tightly around her body as if to ward off winter chills. She huffed. "If you say so."

"You liked it."

Raven rolled her eyes.

It had been a weird day, Garfield decided. He'd had a weird dream last night. He'd been standing on a cliff, looking down at a fast flowing river. His eyes adjusted to observe a small orange life-raft, bobbing in the waves. Despite the water rushing past on either side, it didn't seem to be moving in any direction but up, and down. Inside were three girls, huddled in a bundle. One had red hair, one had brown hair, and one had purple hair, which was weirdest of all.

As he dove to try and rescue them, a bright light flashed from the bottom, a hole puncturing it in some strange hieroglyph. It sunk in the roaring current and he felt a scream erupt from his throat. He woke up.

His foster parents had been irritated all day, and he wondered if they had had bad dreams as well. He looked at the girls standing with him.

Starfire's hair was the exact same shade he remembered seeing in his dream, and as he looked closer at Stella's hair, he was able to identify darker, brown roots. Raven, on the other hand, had a short crop of deep black hair, not purple like in his dream. Unless…

"Raven, is that your natural hair colour?"

She snapped to attention, stopping the sway of her feet so that she was standing a full foot behind Garfield. Her eyes narrowed, brow furrowed. "Why would you ask something like-"

Her question was cut off by a large man in a metal suit tackling her into an alley. Raven made a choking noise as his stone-grey fist gripped her neck, pinning her to a brick wall.

"Hey!" Garfield shouted. The man turned, a single eye peering out of the orange half of his mask. The green teenager had time to register the same burning symbol from his dream before he morphed into a bear and charged.

The masked man unclenched his fist, letting Raven crumple to the ground where she gasped for breath. He turned to the charging bear and took a stance. Garfield continued to run at him. When it looked like he'd be crushed under massive trampling claws, the man dove, grabbing a fist-full of green fur, and vaulted over Garfield's shoulder to land on the other side of the alley.

Stella, who had stumbled in to see the commotion, found herself standing next to the strange man. Her eyes widened and she tried to bolt out the exit, but the man clothes-lined her. She tumbled to the ground with a cry and scrambled backwards. The man bent to pick her up before a blast of green energy sent him sprawling back into the ally. "You will not harm my friends!" Starfire shouted. She stood at the edge of the street, her hands and eyes glowing fluorescent green in the dim light. As she fired up another surge of power, something dropped from the sky and smashed the strange man's head with a bo staff.

It was a boy who appeared to be around the age of sixteen or seventeen. His black hair stood up in obviously gelled spikes and though his eyes were masked in a strange misty material, Garfield imagined he could see an intense fire and determination eating at his soul. His yellow, green, and red uniform told the occupants of the ally that he was none other than Robin, boy wonder.

"Wow," Garfield said.

The strange man took the still silence as an opportunity to dodge a swing from Robin's bo staff, slide under Garfield's arm, and grab a recovering Raven around the waist. Raven swore, and attempted to pull away, but she froze as a burning symbol appeared on her forehead to match the man's own. Her breath-rate increased, but the man merely slung her over his shoulder as if she was his own personal loot, and scaled a nearby ladder to the roof.

Robin bared his teeth and pulled a grappling hook out of his belt. He was soon flying through the air in pursuit. To Garfield it seemed that Starefire followed as if gravity was nothing but a child's limitation. Garfield sifted through his repertoire of animals until he found one that could fly, and dove into the sky with the sweep of crow's wings. Bellow him he heard Stella shout in protest, but he ignored her.

On top of the roof he found the metal-clad man holding Raven out like a shield. Raven's eyes were clenched as glyphs seared through her clothes and Robin was advancing on the man, his steps methodic. Starfire stood behind him with an expression that swore vengeance. Garfield started forward, his sensitive ears picking up a deep whisper from the man's throat.

"It's starting Raven, and there's nothing you can do to stop it." Raven screamed as her body suddenly convulsed, her hair creeping out of her scalp in purple strings so that Garfield had to take time to register that it was actually growing. The man's grip tightened around her upper arms.

Robin seemed to have had enough and used his staff to hurtle himself over the man's head so he was crouching behind him. He swung a kick at the man's neck, and to retaliate, the man thrust Raven to the ground like yesterday's laundry. He twisted around Robin until he had the boy in a head-lock. "She's much more _angelic_ than I imagined," the man said. And he launched himself backwards over the edge of the building, kicking Robin onto the dirty roof with his metal boots.

"Damn it!" Robin scrambled to his feet and skidded to the edge of the building. He scowled into the night air. "Slade."


	5. Chapter 4

I suppose I should apologize for the long update. Between graduating, and prom, and family visiting, and my parents leaving me in charge of the house, and me being incredibly lazy, I didn't get much work done. Please forgive me my lovely and wonderful readers?

**Disclaimer:**  
I wish I owned the Titans.  
But the Titans belong to me just as much as the entire earth can belong to one individual.

* * *

My Iconic Birthday

Chapter 4

In Arella's living room the clock ticked with slow certainty. She sat against a wall of pillows, her feet propped in front of her as she read through one of her daughter's spell books. Raven had an interesting selection in her library.

She flipped past various crusty pages of useless demonic spells, her eyes resting on anything that might imply a prophesy or empowering demons.

_Certain breeds of demons possess the ability to manipulate or completely control the emotions of another being. More commonly gifted to demons bound to hell, this power is difficult to counteract, requiring extreme devotion to obtaining complete control of ones own mind._

_One demon known to possess this ability is the great demon Trigon, who has uses it to manipulate humans into his church._

Arella stopped reading for a moment. She placed a cold hand over the page and listened to the silence of her living room. Outside the bugs hummed in the night air. A fleck of dust floated from the ceiling and landed over her hand. She watched dim memories from her past: a tall handsome man, a marriage completed by a ceremony of blood and sacrifice, screaming, a bottle of pills… She forced herself to remember that she _had_ learned from her mistakes. There was nothing she could do about him, and there was no changing what he had done.

She continued reading.

_It is through meditation one can achieve a deep sense of self control__ and an empathy of your own. A demon's approach will be subtle, sometimes even unintentional…_

She skipped through a couple pages. Maybe there was more about Trigon in later chapters. Ah, there.

The chapter depicted a series of prophesies based on the uprising of various demons. Many had already come to pass in other dimensions, but there was a passage that caught her eye. Trigon.

_It is said that one day the demon Trigon will bring an end to the mortal realm. The prophesy __is brief, implying terror and destruction through the release of Trigon's gem. It has not yet been discovered what is meant by…_

So they knew about it even before she'd met him. She wished she could have had access to these books in her younger years. Maybe then she could have known just what she was getting into. And then what? She wouldn't have Raven.

She loved her daughter, no matter how little time she had had to spend with the girl as a child. Raven had been cared for by the monks of Azarath, the love of a mother having been deemed too dangerous for her young, impressionable mind. As Raven's control over her powers had grown, Azar had allowed Arella access to her only child. A bond had formed between the two of them.

Both Raven and Arella were haunted by the same man. They understood each other's plight and stood by when the other was haunted by mental images, whether memories of the past, or visions of the future. Raven was all Arella had now.

It sent a feeling of warmth into Arella's stomach to know that after all her time alone, Raven had finally made some friends. She could tell that Raven had yet to see them as such, but the three teenagers she had seen with her in the library were devoted to staying together. They _were_ friends, and Arella was glad.

Outside there was a commotion. Hurried, unsteady steps. Hushed, annoyed hisses infiltrated the air as they clamoured around the front yard. Arella stood, and made her way to the front door just as there was a loud nock.

She opened it, not yet ready for the sight to come.

x-x-x

Garfield wasn't entirely sure what had happened.

The whole incident had left Raven in a state of ill shock. There had definitely been a fight of some form, but for some reason he felt there was more to it than protecting Raven from some psychotic stalker. His reasoning was that Robin was somehow involved the situation. Robin! The other half of Batman!

He looked to his side as they trampled over the flowers in Raven's front yard. Her trembling weight was being supported by a pair of green clothed shoulders, her ashen face hidden by a main of messy black-tipped purple hair. The purple was like the purple in his dream; something that confounded him immensely. How could he have possibly known she had died her hair?

Raven shivered suddenly, curling her body closer to Robin in an attempt to gain some heat. Her sweatshirt was charred, opening her skin to the frigid wind. Starfire gasped at her movement and removed her jacket, revealing a skimpy purple halter top that seemed to cover no more than her bra. Garfield's eyes traveled along her slender shoulders as he wondered what could have possessed such an innocent alien to wear something so seductive.

While Garfield was admiring Starfire's choice of clothing, the young alien slipped her jacket around Raven's Shoulders. Raven muttered a quiet, "Thank you."

"You are welcome Raven. The temperature must be-"

Robin jerked a hand in a motion meant to tell her to shut up. "People are sleeping," he hissed. He scrutinized the door in front of him through his mask. "This is your house?" Garfield had a feeling he didn't mean to sound condescending, but that's defiantly how the words exited his mouth.

Raven nodded.

Robin pounded his fist against the door, ignoring his own 'no noise' rule. Behind him Stella shifted her feet, hugging her body with a heavily swollen arm. "Are you gonna tell us exactly who this _Slade_ guy is?" she queried.

"_Not now._"

The door swung open, revealing a very pretty woman in her early thirties. Her hair was the same shade of purple as Raven's, flowing gracefully down her back in gentle waves. Though her skin was darker than Raven's, she bore the same strange jewel on her forehead. Garfield assumed this woman must be his new friend's mother.

Raven squeaked, which was the only word Garfield could use to describe the sound she made as her mother gasped and pulled her into a tight hug. The girl collapsed into her mother's arms with a look of pure vulnerability on her face and in that moment, as a tear streaked down her cheek, Garfield felt his heart go out to her. What had that Slade guy wanted with her? And what had he said to make her so upset?

"What happened?" Raven's mother asked.

Garfield wasn't sure if she was asking Raven, who was so distraught she had nothing to say, or if she was addressing the group as a whole. It turned out the question had been directed at Stella, puzzling Garfield over the fact that they seemed to already know each other. Stella opened her mouth to speak, thought better of it, and looked to Robin for his own explanation.

Robin's expression hardened. "I'm afraid I only know part of the story," he said. "To get the whole picture we may need to have a discussion as a group."

Raven's mother scanned the group critically, before inviting them in. She briefly fussed over Stella's arm. "That might be broken." But Stella shrugged it off with a frown. It seemed there were bigger things to worry about.

Garfield stepped into the small living room where Raven's mother was helping her daughter onto the sofa. She knelt in front of Raven, brushing back her now long hair so she could get a good look at the girl's face. Raven's eyes were wet, her cheeks tearstained and flushed. With her clothing charred, a borrowed jacket draped around her shivering shoulders, and a messy mane of hair framing her pale face, Garfield wondered how Raven's mother wasn't in hysterics observing her daughter's current state. Maybe this kind of thing happened to her often.

The teenage boy decided to take a good look at Raven's living room. It wasn't particularly big, while somewhat cluttered in that way you know the owner of the house likes things to be clean but just didn't have time to fix anything. His eyes fell on the coffee table in front of Raven where there were about ten old, dusty books that made him want to cry from illiteracy. Either Raven had been reading in here, or her mother shared the same love for learning her daughter had.

There only seemed to be enough seating in the room for five people, and with Raven in one seat and another most likely promised to her mother, he wondered if he might have to stand.

Raven's mother stood, gently stroking her daughter's messy hair. Raven seemed to have calmed down a great deal, which relieved Garfield because her panic had been sending chills down his spine. She was now leaning against a pile of pillows on the far side of the sofa, hugging her stomach and looking decidedly ill.

"Why don't you all have a seat?" Everyone shuffled closer into the room, but no one sat down. Raven's mother tried to smile, but Garfield could tell she didn't feel it. "Can I get any of you something to drink?" Everyone declined, though Garfield noted that Stella looked like she wanted to take the woman up on her offer.

There was a shuffle from the sofa as Raven pulled her legs up onto the cushion so that she could hug them. "Oh, just sit down already," she grumbled.

At Raven's words, her mother took a guilty seat next to her daughter, draping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. She whispered concerns to Raven, but the girl made all assurances that she was fine.

The group took this as a polite time to find seats.

Stella chose the last spot on the sofa, while Starfire took the seat across from them. Robin, it seemed, preferred to remain standing, so Garfield reasoned he was allowed the last chair in the room. It was old, large, and poofy, sitting adjacent to the fireplace, though still facing the others. As he perched on the edge, too uncomfortable mentally to find a suitable position, he watched the distressed, nauseous look on Raven's face.

It was curious to him that she could seem so calm, her face a perfect mask of monotony, but at the same time he could practically feel the discomfort radiating off her body. She was still huddled against her mother, her legs pulled up to her chest, but her lips were set in a thin line on her pale face, daring anyone to accuse her of feeling anything.

He looked away.

"I suppose I should introduce myself." Garfield looked to Raven's mother. They looked so identical. And it occurred to him that she was young too. Much too young to have a daughter Raven's age. Then again, there was such a thing as teen pregnancy. "My name's Arella. I'm Raven's mother."

The others nodded politely, introducing themselves one by one, starting with the ever open Starfire. Robin's introduction was stiff and unpleasant, Garfield assumed because everyone in the room already knew him despite having never been formally introduced. When it was Stella's turn she only smiled awkwardly and look away, further backing up Garfield's assumption that Arella and Stella already knew each other from somewhere else. Maybe Stella had visited Raven's house once before.

"So what happened?"

They told her, starting with the late movie, their walk home and Raven being tackled into the ally. At the mention of the hieroglyphs of Raven's body, Arella gripped her daughter tightly and gave her an inconspicuous one over to make sure she wasn't hurt too badly. They explained about Robin's appearance and Slade kidnapping Raven and dragging her to the roof of the building. How he used her like a shield, and somehow magically grew her hair out. Raven remained quiet the entire time.

As they finished the story with Slade's escape over the edge of the building, Garfield remembered something that had been bothering him. "What did he mean by, 'It's starting?'"

Raven looked up abruptly. "How would you know he said that?" Her voice was harsh. Strained even.

Garfield looked away, blushing a strange brownish pink colour. "I just… I have good hearing."

Raven's eyebrows rose slightly. "I'll say."

Her words broke the ill tension that had settled over the room. Starfire giggled, and Robin cleared his throat.

"Look, we can talk about how good Garfield's hearing is later. Right now I think we all have some information that can help each other out."

At this Stella sat up from where she had been rubbing at her puffy arm. Her eyes locked on Robin's face in defiance. "Are you gonna tell us who Slade is now?" They were the first words she'd said since entering Raven's living room. Garfield remembered how she'd fled from the ally, the perfect picture of fear and panic. She seemed much braver now, he noted.

Robin shot her an irritated, almost challenging glare, successfully causing her to shrink back into the sofa like a scolded puppy.

"I've been tracking Slade for about a year now. He's a dangerous criminal, selfish in every respect and not above killing someone to get his way. I've seen him aim to get power, to gain wealth, and no matter how many times I stop him, he always comes back.

"About two months ago I tried to stop him from acquiring a new apprentice: a girl named Terra. In the end they both fell underground and assumed they died. I was wrong.

"Slade showed up again, and though I hadn't seen him doing anything illegal until today, he has new abilities, and a strange marking on his forehead; one I've noted you have as well." He nodded at Raven. She rubbed her forehead where the symbol had appeared. "I'm not sure what he's up to, but I feel like he's my responsibility and I get a feeling you know more about what he's doing than I do."

Raven pushed away from her mother slightly and looked away from Robin's expecting gaze. Her face had paled even more than usual and she seemed at be avoiding looking at anyone in the room.

"Why was Slade after you?"

At this she inhaled sharply, and Garfield got the impression of an interrogation going bad quickly. "I don't know," she said.

"What was the symbol on his forehead?"

Raven swallowed thickly. "I don't-" Her hands were trembling as she brought them to her face. She groaned. "I don't feel well," she grunted.

Arella placed a hand soothingly on her back, but Raven sat forward, pulling away. "I don't feel well," she said again. She closed her eyes and placed a hand over her stomach.

"Raven…" Arella seemed concerned for her daughter, but Raven only grunted in response. "Do you want to go lie down?"

Robin frowned at the idea, but Raven shook her head. She then stood abruptly, taking a moment to steady herself against the armrest of the sofa, and walked away briskly. She disappeared down the hall and Garfield heard a door slam somewhere out of sight. He remembered vaguely from having walked by that the bathroom was down that way.

Robin turned to Arella. "She knows more than she's telling," he said with a frown.

Arella responded with her own frown. "It's really a personal matter."

"We could help each other."

"There's really nothing any of us can do."

Garfield couldn't take anymore of this. "Dude! _What_ is going on?"

Arella stood up nervously and paced to the other side of the room. She stood facing the window, and Garfield caught a reflection of her worried face in the glass.

"It's very complicated," she said finally.

Robin fixed her back with a determined stare. "I think we have the right to know."

"We should really wait until Raven comes back."

Stella stood up from her spot on the sofa. "I can go check on her if you want."

Arella nodded her consent and Stella left the room down the hall. No one spoke for the ten next ten minutes. It seemed no one knew what to say.

When she came back she was alone, but she gave the nod to go ahead. It seemed Raven was too unwell to join them.

Arella walked back to the sofa and perched on the middle cushion. She leaned forwards, elbows resting on her knees. Stella sat down next to her as if they were teaming up to tell everyone bad news.

"You have to understand," Arella said. "Raven isn't exactly normal."

Garfield nodded. "Ya. She can pick things up with her mind."

Arella first looked shocked. Then she turned her head to glare disapprovingly down the hallway. Garfield had a feeling Raven was going to get a stern talking to later about being careful with her powers.

Arella stopped glaring; it seemed because she remembered just what they were talking about.

"There's more to it than that," she said.

There was a long moment of silence. Arella stood up and walked back to the window, appearing to consider how to phrase her next words.

"Raven isn't entirely human."

Garfield shrugged. "That's okay. Starfire's an alien and I turn into animals." Garfield certainly didn't consider _himself_ as entirely human. So why would Raven's mother think they cared about something like that.

Arella sighed. There was definitely more to what she was saying than was getting across. "Do you know who Trigon is?" she asked. It seemed asking this question had required an internal struggle on her part, because her face seemed strained, and her stance was rigid.

Robin nodded, and Starfire made some kind of motion of acknowledgement with her eyes. Garfield had no idea what she was talking about, which Robin seemed to pick up on. "I've read about him. Old stories, about a dangerous demon bent on ruling all mortals."  
Well that sounded bad enough.

Arella nodded. "He's Raven's father."

Everyone froze in that moment. Raven's father was a demon? Did that even make sense? Arella looked human enough. Sure, she had purple hair, but that could just be some weird genetic mutation. In his confusion, Garfield asked the first thing that came to mind.

"You're married to a demon!?" He glanced down the hall, half expecting a black scaly animal to come charging in, frothing at the mouth.

Stella placed her head in one hand and groaned. He realised that there wasn't much tact behind what he said. Still, everyone must have been thinking it.

"I _was_," Arella said tersely.

"And you got a divorce or something?"

"Something like that."

He waited for more, but Arella said nothing. Maybe she was offended. Maybe she just figured they could make the connections themselves. As he glanced at the others, he noted the only one who didn't seem confused was Stella. But Stella seemed to have known everything from the start. How was that?

Robin spoke up. "I don't exactly see how any of this relates to Slade."

Arella turned to look at him. "That symbol you saw on Slade's forehead, if it was the same one that was on Raven's chakra it would have been the symbol of Raven's father." Starfire's eyes widened in surprise while Robin only furrowed his brow in thought. Garfield bit his lip, but didn't say anything. What do you say to that?

"There was a prophesy at Raven's birth that said Trigon would use her to bring himself into the mortal realm. That seems to be what Slade is trying to accomplish."

Garfield was confused. "He wants to use Raven to bring a demon into the world that's going rule over all mortals?" Arella nodded. "Um, no offence to Slade, but doesn't he count as a mortal?"

"Trigon must have offered him something he wouldn't have otherwise gotten."

Garfield heard faint footfalls in the hallway. He glanced in that direction and was able to catch a brief glimpse of long purple hair before it ducked back out of sight. He could see the tips of Raven's shoes around the edge of the wall and noted a pale, unhealthy grey face observing them inconspicuously. Raven was listening in.

They stopped talking then. Everyone was taking a moment to digest what they had just learned. Raven didn't make herself known and Garfield wondered if she was scared. He figured he should probably go talk to her.

Arella was still looking out the window, her expression pensive.

"I'm going to go check on Raven," said Garfield.

Arella looked startled, but didn't object, so Garfield stood from his chair and walked into the hall.

When he saw Raven, she backed away slightly. "You okay?" he asked.

"I've been better." She looked uncomfortable. "You're not afraid of me?"

"Why would I be afraid of you?"

"My father-"

"Isn't you." Garfield stepped closer to Raven and put his hands on her shoulders. "Raven, I'd like to think I've gotten to know you this year. You're a really good person, and I could care less if your father's the most evil thing to ever come into existence."

Raven's eyes started to tear up and she looked away from him. "Raven, I'm your friend and nothing's going to change that."

He wasn't sure if his next action was crossing some sort of boundary of hers, but Garfield pulled Raven into a loose hug. She didn't hug him back, but she didn't pull away either, and Garfield took that as a good sign. He felt her trembling slightly as she buried her face into his shirt and cried. He rubbed her back and let her cry it out; though he was startled when a strange wind seemed to burst through the halls. He glanced down the hall, but the front door was closed and there weren't any windows around that he could see.

As Raven calmed down, the wind seemed to died down as well.

"What was that?" he asked.

Raven sniffed and pulled away. She didn't look at him. "My powers. I just… I lost control for a second." She blushed and hugged her stomach. "I'm sorry."

Garfield smiled. "It's okay. I suppose it happens, right?" He watched her wipe her eyes with the back of her hand, the gentle tears glistening on her pale fingers. "Is it because you were crying?" She had been crying earlier, but he didn't remember her loosing control. Still, he couldn't think of what else could have triggered it.

She sniffed again. "I was trying so hard before not to loose control. I guess this time it just slipped." He watched her as she glanced back into the living room where another conversation had started up. "He is by the way."

"What?"

"My father. He _is_ the most evil thing to ever come into existence." She smiled slightly, and Garfield wasn't sure whether he could consider the way she was breathing as a chuckle. He did anyway. "I'm not sure if you were exaggerating when you said that, but I figured you should know what you're getting into."

Garfield smiled. "Why don't we go back in? Your mom's worried about you."

Raven nodded and they both walked back into the living room.

Arella was still standing by the window when they entered. Garfield guided Raven over to the sofa and they sat down together, the others casting Raven concerned looks. Raven looked uncomfortable, but didn't say anything.

It was Robin who spoke next. "We're forming a team to stop Trigon."

Raven looked at him, frowning. She opened her mouth to say something Garfield was sure to contradict Robin's statement, so he interrupted before she could be too pessimistic about the situation.

"You mean like a superhero team?" he asked.

"I guess."

"And I get to be in it?" It's not that he'd never been in a superhero team before, he just wasn't sure he was ready. He'd left the Doom Patrol for a reason.

Robin gave the group an appraising glance. "I saw the way you guys fought Slade. You're really good. Well, most of you." At this he looked at Stella who grumbled something rude and stared at the floor.

But it seemed Raven had had enough of this optimism. She sat up straight in on the sofa and somehow managed to give everyone in the room a scornful look at the same time. "I'm not sure you guys understand what's going on here," she said. "The world is going to end and there's nothing you can do about it."

Robin shot her a glare that quickly shut her up. "All I see is a villain who needs to be stopped. If there's a chance we can keep all this from happening, we should take that chance, no matter how bleak the future seems to be." He smiled then, for the first time that night. "Raven, I don't know you very well, but I can tell you're stronger than you're letting on. There's a look in your eye that tells me you haven't giving up yet. I want you to grab onto that hope and use it to help us stop Trigon."

Raven frowned and looked around the room, but no one spoke to back her up. Garfield could tell she didn't outwardly believe her father could be stopped, but as he looked closer he could swear he could identify that gleam in her eye Robin had spoken of. "Fine," she said. "I'll join your team."

"I can do some tech stuff," said Stella. "I'm okay with computers and machines and the likes." She looked mildly embarrassed. "I don't exactly have powers or fighting skills or anything. I just want to help."

"Dude, I know someone else who can help with that kind of thing. He goes to our school." Garfield smiled.

"Who?" asked Raven.

"His name's Victor Stone."

Stella glared at him. Probably upset that he was tacking people onto the only job she seemed capable of doing, but everyone else considered it.

"We'll have to meet him first," said Raven finally.

The others nodded. It wouldn't do to be trusting complete strangers with your secrets.

"We need a name," said Garfield.

"A what?"

"A name. All superhero teams have names." Raven rolled her eyes. "It has to be something that tells the world what we are. We're stronger, more experienced than most teenagers. We're like-"

"Prodigies?" asked Stella.

"Titans."


End file.
